>> we did. yes. >> nancy pelosi hopefully by christmas and -- boehner said this. so they were all over the lot. but i think they wanted to reassure the kids. >> art, thanks so much for the guidance. we will see you tomorrow. that does it for us on "squawk on the street." let's get back to headquarters. >> carl, thanks very much. welcome to the halftime show. power hours go until the close on this monday. pretty good day it is. highs of the day right now. a gain of 163 points. s&p and nasdaq having a big day today on the back of apple. we will talk about that and much more in just a moment. here is what we are followinging on halftime today. flash point as the conflict escaltes into tes can a dashes can a lates in the middle east. top analyst says stay away from apple. a top trader says buy it. they will go head-to-head over america's most loved stocks.

today's big rebound. it comes on renewed hopes in washington. will congress rise above and what does a fiscal cliff fix mean for your money? our traders today, joe terranova, john najarian, josh brown. are you buying stocks today or feeling betber the market? >> no, not really. today is really positive action. we should have bounced here. and we did. especially when you look at apple. it was at a key level of support. today we acted the way it should. i don't know the that this correction has much further to go. i don't think one day's action calls it the end. i would pay specific attention today if you are trading or investing to a follow-through in small caps and emerging markets. that will give you a sign there's more oomph left. if those two areas stayed, i would say take the 1% plus gains and walk today. >> joe, talked about how dangerous it is to be short this market. >> yes. >> after we what we got friday, that more conciliatory tone in washington. >> options expiration has a lot do with what we are see something the marketplace today. i think there's -- certainly short sellers that have been

covering on friday. covering again today. now -- technicians will tell you be careful here. you are going to bump up against resistance which is 1382 in the 200-day moving average. i will say fundamentally if you look at the components of today's rally, josh points out the russell, russell leading the market higher today. you also have strong participation from energy and materials which have been lagging over the last couple of months. lower dollar. that's a good formation that suggests this has further to go why not buy stocks today if you think we bottomed? >> i think you can buy stocks today. but -- it is always hard to do it when the market is up this much. that said we are down four straight weeks in a row. i thought the rhetoric on friday, commentary from the politicians, was encouraging. weekend commentary was encouraging and sounds like these guys get and it if they have to get something done. so if that's the case, and we get some sort of certainty whether it is a -- we kick the can down the road or actually get a deal, in the markets,

can -- rally further from here. again, we have talked about going back to the companies that did very well during earnings season. something like a broad com, restructuring stories. i'm looking at emerging markets. not just a -- materials but looking at abbott leads. >> if they don't get it in washington now, they never will. right? i mean, we have been calling on people to rise above. >> yes. >> pay attention to what's happen something the markets to end the rhetoric, ranker and oth nonsense to get a deal. after the strong snapback friday the market sent a message to washington, is washington finally listening? >> i believe they are. based on what art cashin said when they came out and weren't any black eyes that was a positive thing. but also, thursday on this program, we cited the -- puts bought aggressionly in the spy. that's not a professional trade. that's a retail product. the spy.

spx is -- ten times bigger and that's where the big boys and gal place. retail product which is distributed amongst registered investment adviser and all the rest, that showed you panic in the market. and the politicians reacted to that panic. it is good that they did. and we have had this very nice knee-jerk bounce to the upside. to joe's call on friday, which was -- very -- in apple, we hls a bunch of people caught short and willing to, again, get into tech. >> well, speaking of apple, speaking of tech, we are watching shares of america's most valuable company. then under pressure a lot lately. as you know. take a look at the sthap back today. stock is up sharply. there it is. merely 6%. it still remains in bear territory. here is what joe said about apple friday. >> i think apple is experiencing a march 2009 moment. it is a generation alibi. i am all in on apple. i think it is going significantly higher. i think what is driving it lower here is margin calls.

short-term thinking. longer term. this is the buy. >> bgc's collin isn't buying it and says stay away. we put analyst versus trader. why is joe terranova wrong? >> what we are out there saying is that apple still has some limitations to the gains it can get. it is already one of the largest profit makers in the smartphone space. if you look at what's happening you are seeing the volumes are moving towards the lower cost handsets and margins going down. story of apple is moan. >> story of why may or may not be known. i believes the known. but i think that the ultimate question comes down to what are actual money managers going to do on the institutional side? tell me what it is that they will replace apple with when they are looking important the type of growth that apple has consistent given them? scott talks about apple in bear territory. completely take the other side of that. look at apple over the last five years. that's not something that is bear territory. what's the replacement for the institutional money manager

besides apple? >> sure. you know, this is the thing. we have a hold rating on apple. people that want -- it is such a -- >> what's your price target? >> 600. upside from where we are today. right now. it is -- i understand the point. it is apple. fantastic company. we also have to realize that, you know, we have the product refresh going on. that -- there is -- equal amount of downside risk as upside risk to the holiday numbers. if you are looking for the stock to -- you know -- >> what's downside risk when you are talking about holiday numbers? obviously you are talking about the number of iphone sales. could you draw for me what's the line in the sand about how many they have to sell? you say you know what, joe, you are completely sxwrong i will accept that you are wrong. is it 40 million? 42.5? >> you know, listen, our estimates is 49. right. >> that's a great number. >> yeah. great mum. most people are out there talking about 50 million a quarter for the next several quarters. which is -- you know, unbelievable number. that's what's into the models and also been supporting the current valuations.

>> collin, joe used really strong words in what he said on friday. generation alibi and all in on apple. you are flat out saying that he is wrong to make that trade and for others watching the program to follow on his back and do the same thing. >> i mean, joe, are you saying you want to be buying this thing and want to be holding it the next three years? you see this company going to a trillion dollars? >> absolutely. i truly believe that and i think one of the reasons why is what they have on the balance sheet. the ability to step forth whether it be in special dividends or do a significant buyback. i don't believe it is the end of the product cycle. i think it is reminiscent of march 2009 where this is nothing more where risks sentiment is contracting and apple is being in essence used as the atm to raise cash. nothing to do with the fundamentals of the company itself. >> i think that if you look at the reasons why apple is down, everyone is trotting out minor inconsequential fundamental data points. i don't think that that's what happened. i think that fundamental story on apple is just as it was would

months ago. difference is this is a major capital gains harvest story. this is a stock that's up 45% while the s&p is up a fraction of that. what you basically see is a very widely held name and have profits being taken. especially ahead of the -- fiscal cliff stuff. i don't think that this stock is down form fundamental reasons. i think joe's call a year from now, two years from now, will look very intelligent in retrospect. i think he will do well. >> if i could, when you look at the ability to penetrate into the emerging market story is there a technology comfort, large-cap technology, better positioned than apple? >> you know, so this is going to be surprising. i actually think microsoft is better positioned than apple because of -- >> emerging markets? >> because this is their whole strategy. the first 1 billion smartphones was owned by apple. the next 1 billion smartphones were going to be -- coming and being sold out -- lower average selling price.

that is what windows 8 and nokia partnership is chasing after. lower afp. you also have samsung chasing after that. if you look at the volumes you already see that apple is becoming more of a niche high-end player which is a fantastic spot to be in but does not mean they are going to have the same layers and degrees of scale that people are expect. >> they are all good points. let's take it to the rest of the jury, if you will. doc? who is rate? who makes the best argument? >> well, i -- obviously i put my money with joe last week because i was in the week before. at 537. i love it after it traded to 505 friday. i think that the stock gets back in the 600. just after christmas of this year. early in the first quarter of next year, think think it is a $600 number again. i don't see a reason for to it slow down because i think that halo effect continues to pick up and that is an even bigger profit margin business, of course, than the ipad, ipod, or

any of their mini tablets. >> collin, i will give you the last word. as the judge i will close the case. >> apple is a fantastic company. we just want to point out historically no company has ever hit this trillion dollar valuation. margin pressure is a real thing. for this holiday season, not only do you have sky high expectations you still have a lot of inventory of -- units in the channel and finally have real competition. >> good to have you on the show. >> thank you. >> we will see you soon. stephanie, get a word in here. >> we own apple. we sold it higher. i agree with almost everyone. i think that this is a great story and i think it is a -- got oversold. that said, i don't see an immediate catalyst to get this stock materially higher until we get clarification on the gross march data points. is it a product transition issue? is it a competition? we do not know the answer to that. and so i think that you are going to have this push-bull

until they report on january 22. i think it got a little oversold but i still think it is going to be in the trading range until we get answer. >> other thing you have to consider -- you are looking incredulous at what some people said. but -- if you get some sort of resolution to the cliff, and the overall market has a year-end rally, you know apple is going with it. >> absolutely. leading it -- absolutely. and that's a great point. i just want on point out something collin said. it relates to the potential in earn in january. 49 million iphones, that's above the street. that's a strong number. give me 49 million -- stock is going a lot higher. >> kayla is watching the other movers. a financial name on the radar. >> that's right. bank of america taking a big leg higher today. up a little bit more than 4%. that's on the back of an upgrade from nicholas. upgraded to a buy from a hold. on the back of -- you know, just positive improvement in environment for the financials overall. steve saying that -- of the financials bank of america has

the most eps leverage to bounce back in this environment. bank of america biggest percentage gain other the dow. leading financials higher. >> josh brown, buyer here? >> no. i actually on a technicality base list tell you that $10, can clear there with conviction, meaning high volume, and then retest and stay above. that's a really -- safe entry point to buy for a short term trade. under ten, i still there are there are too many sellers and your way. i would wait for that confirmation and think it is worth it. >> are you positive on any of the banks? you are negative on the overall market a little bit. >> we like -- we like and we are long. berkshire hathaway which is the largest holdser of wells fargo and very heavily leveraged to the at the same time thing most of the banks are. home building and mortgages. we would prefer to play through the b shares of berkshire than owning any of these banks outright. especially something toxic like a bac that we just, franklying don't know what's there. >> housing recovery that we got more evidence of today? >> yes. i can get the same exposure through buffett and through the

holdings he put on both on a private basis and public stock portfolio. i rather play that way. by the way, stock is working really well. >> let's check the market here. session highs. more optimism lawmakers in washington will rise above and get a deal on the fiscal cliff. there is a look at the dow industrials. apple leading the charts. stock up about 5% or so. on the way, most secretive firm. first, intel's ceo, paul otellini planning to retire. what this could mean important the stock. one of the nation's largest home improvement chains ups its forecast. traders give us the speck oslos. company shares are climbing. up 7%. those stories and many more when we come back.

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welcome back. developing story on goldman sachs. they just handed out the partnerships and now it seems succession talks are heating up. kate kelly has the latest. we already know they handed out the fewest number of partnerships since they went public. >> that's right. i mean, they are downsizing in the upper echelon. and as you know, compensation across the street and certainly goldman has been lower than in past years. of course, at this time of year speculation about leadership changes always rampant. at the moment, many eyes are gary chone the president of goldman sachs. he held his job since 2006 when blankfein was named chairman. successfully steered the firm through the financial crisis and ceo for more than six years. which puts him within a stone's throw of the traditional length of tenure for a goldman sachs chief. that fact, along with the elevation of a long time ally to the chief financial officer role are increasingly leading

insiders to think that transition may be afoot. despite being a huge revenue source, has also been a subject of much criticism in recent years. shareholders also have pressured goldman to split the role of chairman and ceo that can result in a narrower job if cohn gets it. insiders floated on -- floated is if the outgoing cfo, david vinnier, becomes chairman, then maybe cohn would become the ce onto his chairman. although vinnier is not independent. former longtime employee. he has indicated that job one right now, which, of course, is always the case for a head of a company. but more so right now is to improve receive knew and profit in the new regulatory landscape. >> that's the biggest issue of all. blankfein has not said he is going anywhere.

>> that's right. i think the reason it comes up is dash you see the partnership class name which happens every two years. you start thinking about, you know comp days around the corner. that's always when people tend to leave infer going to leave. now or any n a year or would years, you are the -- hear the chatteder. >> the guys that own the stock, is there a blankfein premium? >> no. gary cohn was a ceo, he would be an unbelievably good ceo. what does it matter that he comes from sales and trading? that was the model in years past. only in the wake of 2009 that we moved to this more pure vanilla banking theory. >> absolutely. >> think about -- just think about for one second, what did morgan stanley do? they said we were wrong going that way. we are goinging the way goldman sachs goes. which is the sales and trading by putting kelleher in charge. >> i think you see the pendulum shifting back. goldman over the years, have you between the investment banking side of the shop and sales and trading. the thing about the sales and trade sing there was a point in time around 2007 when they were literally making a billion bucks a week in fixed income which

is -- phenomenal. since then, things have been different. if you take the greg smiths of the world, the criticism is clients are counter parties and the -- self-interest first, mortgage bubble. >> not a significant revenue generator. >> i hear you. i hear you. that's the criticism. >> let me ask doc if i may. if dimon left jpmorgan you would see a sell-off. >> that's significantly greater impact. but i -- i think that -- when murph and i were out to dinner, we saw lloyd blankfein after vinniar was going to stop down we saw him out with his lieutenants at i didn't their same night. it didn't seem like a guy getting ready to step away. i respect kate's reporting but i think that might be another year or more off before he does that. >> doing like a steakhouse recon? >> exactly at a steakhouse, yeah. land zblashg size of the steak told you he wasn't going anywhere any time soon? >> they were enjoying their meal, let's say.

he didn't look like a guy stepping away. >> i think that's fair. lloyd indicated no plans to resign right now. of course, the watch is always on. this is probably the most watched financial guy. >> no fears of succession at goldman sachs. >> that's the last word there. lowe's shares trading at a 5 1/2 year high on better-than-expected earnings and same-store sales. you would be in the money if you had listened to josh last thursday. >> lowe's is a more compelling opportunity. stock broke out in last week of october. it is in the process of retesting that breakout around 32. only a matter of time before lowe's figures out what home depot has been doing really well and get a really nice catchup trade here. i can imagine lowe's going to 40 bucks from these levels. >> josh, that was a great call. stock not at 40, 34. up 6 1/2 percent. does one earnings report tell the whole story of what will happen going forward? >> stock is up 26% year to date which sounds fantastic. until you compare it to lowe's which has gone -- home depot

which has already gone absolutely vertical. and, in fact, the comps at home depot and revenue growth ring still better than what we saw out of lowe's today. that's not a negative. that's a positive. that indicates that there's opportunity for lowe's to get even better. gross margins expanding, sales are ticking up. they are -- very -- involved participant in the housing recovery. and what i will tell you technically speaking i urge everyone to look at a weekly chart on lowe's, monthly chart and there is -- no sellers, there's no roof on where this could go at this level. it is clear. >> if people didn't listen to you last week, it is not too late. >> i don't think so. i mean, i hate paying up 7% on the day. stock this thing. keep it on your screen. there's a lot of potential here. >> intel's ceo is getting ready to step down in spring of next year. what a change in command could mean for the chip maker's stock. crisis in the middle east is intensifying. as israeli forces launch new air strikes in an effort to crush

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leading the dow at almost 4%. there is verizon and at&t. right up there. technology stocks doing quite well today. not just apple but a hewlett-packard, industrials as well. ge, materials, we mention medical the show as well today. dupont, cokeca-cola having a go day. intel rebounding after announcing ceo paul otellini will retire in may. board saying lit consider int n internal ask external candidates important the position. josh brown, what do you do here? >> sometimes there is just no trade. you think intel is a really good case in point. up can't be shorted because it is perennially cheap. and there is a really good dividend yield. there is absolutely been no reason to be long. this is value and in the absence

of any catalyst. so -- i think this is one of those situations where you just look elsewhere and -- qualcomm much better than intel. intel is month where in the tablet and mobile space. that's really what they have to figure out. >> let's take a look at walmart here, stock higher today. changing the date fourth quarter dividend will be paid. move that the world's biggest retailer might be taking to avoid a higher tax rate on dividends if there is no fiscal cliff agreement. >> yeah. i think it is prudent planning, scott. dividend was due to the paid just two days into 2013. instead they back it up into december. the largest shareholders in walmart are the heirs of sam walton. it is not surprising that they -- have a little input perhaps to the board as far as let's move this into this year so we have certainty about the tax treatment of this very large dividend to those folks. rather than the risk it goes off of fiscal cliff which i don't think we will. >> yes, steph, i walked the heat map a moment ago and mentioned hewlett-packard as one of the tech stocks doing quite well today. will is another look at it.

up 2 1/3 percent. company will announce the results before the bell tomorrow. >> i think the earnings will probably either meet or maybe even beat because of cost controls. revenues will be light. scott, 50% of their revenues are pcs and printers we know pcs are just under enormous pressure. and printers are also under a lot of competitive intensity. i would much rather buy an ibm or an accenture. they had lights. had some issues but like what those companies are doing way better than hewlett. >> bar is so low at this point. >> extremely low. valuation is very, very cheap on any metric. i just feel this restructure sing going to take so long and they have been so -- slow in really transitioning away from the pcs into the enterprise. into cloud and tablets, et cetera. i would actually say that dell

is ahead of them in this race. i'm not a pan of dell. >> oil prices are jumping today as israel and gaza continues to trade rocket and missile fire over there with hamas. joining us now with the latest on the con applicant is nbc's martin fletcher live from tel aviv. >> reporter: hi, scott. conflict here is really reaching a fever pitch with israel still continuing to pound palestinian targets in gaza. palestinians say that the death toll there reached three pigs today important the first time over 100 palestinians killed and about 600 wounded by palestinian rockets. at the same time, palestinians firing more and more rockets into israel today. i spent the day in the south of israel and in the town where children were being bussed and put on the buses to the north and escape the bombing. the stores and mark wrets almost empty of people. and the sirens were sounding almost every half hour.

shooting most of the rockets down. some of the rockets did for one rocket fell on a school which was empty because all the schools are being closed now for five days within a raid wrum of 40 kilometers of gaza. all eyes now on the israelis army poised to attack gaza. on the border, up to 75,000 israeli soldiers will be giving the okay to be called up. at the same time a lot of activity in the arab world, in particular cairo. egyptian prime minister said the plus is close. israelis so far say it is only 50/50. >> martin, thanks so much. what will the tensions there mean for oil and how should you trade it? joe? >> first of all, take a look at the refiners that are street fundamental bullishness they had all year carried into the news. i think you stay with them. within the space, guy has talked about phillips. a stock to own. i think also you can look up

north and look at a name like sun core. that's a name that looks like it is reaccelerating to the upside. hornbeck offshore. hos. again, quality company. good fundamentals, proven earnings. >> josh brown, what do you do here? >> low volatility trade. refiners should continue to lead. for something a little bit more dividend oriented, chevron is down 10, welfare straight points for no appear enreason. this is the one. you got a great yield here. it is only about 456 the size of that exxon mobile and room to grow as well. i would go to -- >> doc? >> western refining, wnr, as well as velero. i like that a lot. and i would hold on to both of those. to josh's point most of these pay a nice dividend. >> all right. still to come stocks rallying for the second day in a row. get in while the going is good. plus, they are the stocks teetering on the edge. which ones would you consider

buying right now as optimism climbs? from a black friday daryling to one of the nation's biggest struggling retailers. is best buy your best short this holiday season? i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved.

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welcome back. want to point your attention to shares of altria, up 3%. on the back of an upgrade. raised to buy. raising price target to $36 from $35. unlike walmart, altria is paying its dividend next year. best in class as far as yields go. 5.7%. 44 cent dividend paid january 10. back to you. >> thanks. do you own altria? ? >> we don't. we did in the past. the stock has had a nice run. like philip morris international a little better before the international growth. if you want field verizon has come down enough that on a yield for yield basis that stock and valuation is attract. >> verizon one of the better performance today. leading the dow to its highs of the day. stocks are rallying for a second straight day on optimism

lawmakers in washington will keep us from going off the fiscal cliff. what's the best way to play the market between now and the end of the year? larry mcdonald joins us now. welcome. good to see you again. >> hey. >> interesting note you put out today. do you hi the action today tells us we could put a bottom in? >> yeah, bullish tweet last week. lot of capitulation on high volume among different sectors in technology as well. apple is a very big positive in terms of a bottoming side? i would look at treasuries. ten-ier had 28 basis points of tightening over the last several weeks. only has been a giveback of three basis points this morning. i think the one thing that you want to look for is want to see if this equity rally will continue and treasuries should be selling off more. >> if we actually get some kind of deal or -- at least the from time to time work of one out of washington, then what does it mean for the market? >> well, acg an lit wriks and i have been talking about clients all morning. i think that you are bogey to

see five or six different trades between now and the 20th of december. so -- i think this it is really about trading expectations. last week, you know, wednesday, thursday, the -- expectations were so poor and then we had a lift friday in terms of the expectations. what's probably going to happen over the next couple of weeks is expectations of a deal gets really too bake medical the cake and we are going to have to sell that because i think between now and the 20th of december we will have three, four moments where we think there is a deal and three, four moments where we there is not a deal. >> what -- why is 20th the line in the sand for you? >> i think we are -- we -- we think in order to get a deal done, amount of work that is going to take even to get a kick the can, you are not going to get a grand bargain. amount of work that's -- that's need and amount of days legislative days that exists, i just don't think you get anything before the 20th of december. >> all right. >> larry, do you think investors and traders would be right over the next couple of weeks to look a lot of the global monetary initiatives you will have? obviously in the u.s., fomc has

to do something to replace operation twist. you look over to japan, you are finally getting chatter that they are going to get real aggressive, stimulus efforts, end could weaken. is it now looking like it is a globally coordinated effort here and just a race to take that currency as cheap as you possibly can get it? >> that's what you are seeing. really a keynesian warfare here across the world. big government is highly inn debt. all of the -- six of the major top ten economies. colossal debt, colossal leverage and they are trying to lever that up at this point. but the mark let fight them. i think it is about trading in -- inflection points. yen has been very, very weak. and as you said, and that's a sign that japan is moving that way. spain -- disturbing in europe in terms of their fiscal cliff, spanish ten years have been massively underperforming italian ten years. that's -- that's really a warning sign for another spain problem in the next couple of weeks. >> in your note today you say

short the home builders and sell into any strength from that group. do you want to reassess that call given the news have you today. >> essentially, securitization volumes in, say, autos have been back at 2007 levels. but they still -- still really don't exist for the home sector. and i think that -- you know, if you look at the home builder they were up maybe 50, 60, 65% a couple of weeks ago. until you get real securitization back, you are missing a massive, massive financing lever. and -- i think that the posture of the administration, posture of deval patrick in massachusetts, jerry brown, you are seeing this real anti-capitalist mentality around giving homeowners a piece of the equity back. that's going to hurt the process of securitization getting back to the market. i think would weeks ago, maybe a month ago, i think a lot of people thought we could see a revival in 2013. in terms of gse bill.

i think a lot of this has been pushed out. that's why we are negative on the homebuilders selling rallies in the home builders. >> we have been watching oil and given the uncertainty in the escalation of the violence over in the middle east. where would you go with energy here and now? >> well, i think -- my big point is -- if you look at ron widen, head of the senate resources committee, first time in 20 years, a chairman of that committee is from the state, oregon, that doesn't have any fossil fuel presence. so he's a real green -- big green posture. i think if that -- with the president, that -- makes me very bullish on bio fuels and renewables and wind. and the -- the -- ecosystem for natural gas. the -- infrastructure of natural gas throughout the country building that out. it makes me less positive or -- on really the oil names. >> it is good to see you. thanks so much for coming on. >> thanks. >> larry mcdonald.

fiscal cliff uncertainty has smen stocks tumbling. as washington moves to get a deal done, are there buying opportunities? you heard what larry said buying opportunities and there are ways to mick money on the short side as well. short side, judge, i think the vix. vix is down but futures are down twice as much. those futures that -- pricing out to january that i'm looking at. down better than a dollar today with the cash down 50 cents. tells you more and more of those folks are believing a deal can be done before the end of the here what's your cliff trade? >> tjx. i have been adding to it. we know about manufacturing stalling and what's coming in 2013. significant pullback here from 46 to the low 40s in tj and a company that's growing double digits and stealing market shares and name buy. >> stephanie, do you have a pick? >> boeing underperformed s&p year to date by 11%.

it is because of sequestration, fears and budget cut fears. a company despite this -- macro pressures, they beat earnings and beat revenues and margins. raise guidance and raise cash employee. i think that this is a name that the company is going to do a -- take aggressive action and cut costs. if in fact you do get a deal that cuts budgets, stand sthaltially. if you don't, if you get more of a benign plan, then i think a lot of this is priced in. 50% of the receive knew is aerospace. that market remains very, very strong. >> our friend, you know, cramer was saying he loves lockheed martin. if you get a deal. >> yes. i like the defense stocks. the thing -- reason i chose boeing is because the stock has massively underperformed. put up two charts, lockheed martin and boeing. stock massively underperformed. not only the market but its peers. i think it is unjustifiable. >> currency plays based on rising cried oil. whether best buy can surprise

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only the beginning of the playbook will. you tell us what you think killed the twinkie. i have a feeling the twinkie is not dead just yet. to scott with more. >> just ahead of -- when we eat lunch, we will have twinkies for dessert. let's talk best buy. it is in the news again today. speculation heating up that pounder richard may take -- might take over the company for 20 buck as share. can the one-time black friday holiday darling be saved? i mean, have you the deal aspect of it or the -- possibility after deal. then just the sheer black friday. >> biggest that can save them, scott is some address of -- amazon and the nontax issues important the people that shop on that one. that's one of the big problems for them all along. people price comparing, of course in best buy. and then checking out amazon and other online retailers that don't have the same costs. i think that's a big problem for

them. and it is not surprising that schultze keeps ramping down what the anticipated price might be if a takeover can -- >> anything matter at this point when you take a look at the business model, that's the thing that reigns supreme at the end of the day? unfortunately it has not been going well. that's the thing. they could do some things right in terms of discounting and -- driving traffic. driving better results on the web, et cetera. for the fourth quarter. that's great. i'm sure the stock will react nicely to it. this is an endless downtrend. stocks lower than where it was when the overall market bottomed in '09. quite frankly, strategically, there is almost nothing that could break their way. this is just how slowly does street deacon instruction take? i don't think there is any reason to be nosing around for long entry unless you are trading train day and gets too oversold. that's not my gig. >> let me just ask, what happens if they have a huge black friday? >> so what? it has good quarter. we are talking about as an

investor. you know. i'm sure there is a 5 or 7% pop in here at some point if they exceed expectations. why would you want to play in a stock like this when they are there are 8,000 others. many of which do not have the same types of head winds and ceiling over their performance. why not focus on winners? >> there was a shot today going around of their website appeared to be offline which they said they were working on in anticipation of the holidays. somebody -- one of the producers in the newsroom tweeted out they should have -- e-mailed out, should have called in the geek squad to fix their own website. >> that's one of the good things about amazon or rather best buy, by the way p sorry about that. but, unfortunately, there's just not enough other good stories here. the forecast that i'm going on go if there and take a look at the online price compare it and they are going to match it, that means they are going to have revenue. they are not going to have margin. >> let's do pops and drops now. biggest movers in midday trading.

jcp getting a pop. it has been a while since we said that. >> just like josh said about best buy needs to be sold. i don't think that will is a value here. i think they are all in on this bet. i don't think it is a good bet. >> how about bp getting a pop? >> all on takeover speculation. i don't think the folks watching this show should go out and buy the name based on that solely. potentially if there is to be some sort of action, it would be a geographic splitup. this is a stock that's basically waffle. >> diamond foods. >> it was downgraded to a sell at jefferies today. the company -- they restated earnings, they -- going to major transition. stock trade being 12.7 times. i don't think you want to buy it. >> 12 is the big number. stock down 12% today as well. dean foods pop 2%. >> yes. i like this one. this is a company trading at 11 times forward estimates.

they just spun off their orga c organics business. they are going to take proceeds and pay down debt. goldman upgraded it, management raised guidance. it is the number one player in dairy and i think you can hold this thing. >> a pop for dr. j's ferravorit artist. justin bieber. despite his recent break-up with selena gomez, justin bieber took her artist of the year at american music awards beating out katy perry and rihanna. another big winner car lly rae gypsum. >> i like "call me maybe." you know carly rae and justin bieber have that gangham style a little bit between them. >> interesting. >> ahead on half file -- or not -- ahead on halftime, our trader are fast but they're not always right. what stephanie link learned from

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welcome back. as tensions in the middle east intensify, what impact will rising oil prices have on the currency markets and what's your best way to trade it. let's bring in todd gordon of

aspen trading group. todd, good to see you again. how do we play this one? >> i think oil stories are strong. you guys are talking about it earlier in the show. i like getting long major oil exporter of the norwegian crowd. short dollar being confirmed with a risk-on rally we're seeing in the stock market. commodities are breaking up. wti, brent all looks good on the dollar side. pair that against the norwegian crown. it is projected to grow 3% next year with 3% unemployment, they manage a $650 billion u.s. oil fund they're talking about at a recent central bank meeting, saying they're not going to buy international currencies anymore so that strengthens the crown. i want short dollar against the norwegian crown around 5.71. -- actually, a little higher, 5.74, stop 5.81, take profit around 5 hadn.60.

>> in the fx world we go long euro/dollar. it is finally moving. seeing a long euro/dollar position play out. you're seeing the dollar sell off so long euro/dollar looks good with a higher stock market. >> todd gordon. not so fast, stephanie link. our traders are quick but they're not always right. let's take a listen to what steph said about ross stores last month. >> i want to talk about ross stores. i think in the low 60s it is very interesting. one thing that was so clear to mean in terms of retail sales is that consumers are still looking for a bargain and these -- ross stores and tjx have it. >> well, stock's down about 10% since that call. steph, low 60s. interesting. how do the mid 50s look to you? >> very interesting. we are eyeing it for the trust

beep don't own it yet but the quarter last week was okay. about what we expected and it sold off another 2%. so the story doesn't change in my view and that is that the secular theme in off-price retail remains very compelling. this company, the reason it is falling is because the comps are good. they're actually in line with the company's guidance but expectations got a little too high and they're not beating aggressively like they used to. i don't think that's a function of this company and miss the execution. i think it is a bigger, broader slowdown in the consumer. i think this is where you want to be, 15 times forward estimates. zplin side you're smiling. >> yes. we don't own it yet but we're looking at it. >> this isn't little league baseball. we don't want .800. cliff or no cliff, corporate america is cutting back on spending. today on "power lunch," pros and cons and what it will mean for the stocks you own. but first, final trades up next. customer erin swenson bought from us online today.

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